Ingredients (that I used):
Olive oil
Half of a yellow onion, rough chopped (luckily I did not cry tonight)
4 cloves of garlic, pressed or chopped (love my Pampered Chef garlic press)
A little bit of tomato paste
Water
2 1/2 Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into medium sized pieces
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
A bunch of pieces of cauliflower, rinsed of course (it's all about eyeballing how much you want in your pot!)
Fresh parsley, chopped (I had some in the freezer from my summer herbs), you could use dried of course
Kale (or whatever type of greens you like, or not)
Several whole peeled tomatoes, rough chopped
1 can of low fat, low sodium chicken broth
1 can of cannellini beans
Kosher salt, just a little
Orzo (It's what I had around)
Fresh Parmesan cheese
Oven-baked Italian toast (croutons, or crusty bread would be great too)
So, I started by sauteing the onions and garlic in the olive oil in a pot on medium heat. Then I added the tomato paste. Be careful, as this will burn quickly if not stirred and watched.
Then I poured in a bunch of water to make it brothy. I didn't go too high with the water as I had many more ingredients to get in the pot!
Next, I tossed in (ever so gently, so it wouldn't splash) the potatoes, carrots and cauliflower.
Rinse and rip apart whatever greens you've chosen, if you've chosen and thrown them in. Eyeball the amount.
At some point, I threw in my chopped parsley. Not really sure when I did this...
Eventually the whole peeled tomatoes made it into the pot along with the chicken broth (just for some extra flavor)
I brought the soup up to a boil and once it was there, I reduced the heat again down to low. This brought it down to a simmer. You could throw in some Kosher salt here if you want. I always taste as I go to see what kinds of flavors might be needed.
I let it sit this way for a while...no real set time.
When I knew I wanted to eat it soon, I drained and rinsed the beans and threw them into the mix. I don't like putting them in too early as they are already soft and delicate.
In a separate pot, I cooked some orzo. In the past I have cooked the pasta in the soup itself, but there are two problems with this.
#1 I never measure it right and end up with two much or too little pasta in the big pot of soup.
#2 If cooked too long, it becomes mushy pasta. No one likes mushy, overcooked pasta.
Cooking it separately allows for way more control.
Once all was cooked, I ladled the soup and pasta into a soup bowl, put two oven baked Italian toast pieces (from a bag) and grated some fresh Parmesan on top.
Voila!
